Metallic packing for pipe-joints.



0. D. HOGUE.

METALLIC PACKING PoR PIPP JoINPs.

l APPLICATION FILED JULY 31, 1907i gplg, Patented Nov. 10,1908.

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MOMI??? citizen'of'the United States, andresident of- OLIVER D. HOGUE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS..

METALLIC PACKING FOR PIPE-JOINTS.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 10, 1908.

Application me@ July 31, 1907. serial No. 386,336.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER D. HoGUE, a

Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Metallic Packing for Pipe-Joints, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

The aim of my invention is to provide a packing which may be conveniently handled, shipped, and stored without detriment,

and readily used at any time cold in practically all situations for making a tight pipe joint. To vthis end I have provided a packing material in the form 0f lead or usual alloy drawn into the form of a cable or body of indeterminate length having a peripheral surface in the form of a plurality of protuberant portions with intervening groove-like spaces for facilitating the interlocking and nesting together of a plurality of layers of said article when being calked and welded together cold in superimposed position in a pipe-joint. This body has preferably the same external appearance as a rope, and preferably consists of long individual strands, loosely bunched and slightly twisted into a spiral column, bundle, or cable. This spiral body, column or 'cable can be readily wound into a pipe joint until the proper amount of malleable packing material is in place, and then pressed or pounded solidly together into a homogeneous coldwelded packing mass, tightly closing the joint with practically the same eliciency'as if the lead were melted and poured in in the usual manner. The external protuberances and intervening groove-like spaces permit superimposed layei of the joint-metal to nest into each other and interlock suiiciently to hold each other in place so that the hammering or welding pressure of the calking or tamping process cannot cause them to slip or slide on each other as would be the case with a round or smooth surfaced wire, for instance, but brings them forcibly together without sliding movement. In other words, this formation of the cable or column cooperates in effecting actual Welding under proper pressure or blows, and this is accomplished with the highest efficiency when that form of my invention is employed in which the said protuberances of the body or cablelike column are formed by separate individual strands and said strands are twisted loosely together in spiral fashion like a rope. This packing material can be readily shipped in suitable lengths or coils, and if accidentally a strand or length gets slightly compressed, it can readily be restored to its original loose condition simply by giving the cable a slight reverse turn, thereby untwisting the rope-like bundle of strands. Also, the loose spiral arrangement not only keeps the individual strands laid smoothly and neatly lengthwise of each other at all times, but permits the cable or bundle to bend readily and conform to any required shape, prevents excessive oxidizing, and leaves the ends in such relation as to facilitate overlappingand interlacing or oining the ends in a complete circle when desired under special circumstances. In some instances Iy ntroduce a fibrous core or center.

My invention is confined in its use to bell or spigot pipe-joints.

In the drawings, in which I have shown various embodiments of my invention, Figure 1 represents in side elevation the cable or loosely bunched strands in the simplest form of my invention; Fig. 2 is a similar View, showing a more complete embodiment of the.in`vention; Figs. 3 and laare similar views showing still further embodiments of the invention; and Fig. 5 is a sectional View of a pipe joint, illustrating vthe manner of using my packing with a bell or spigot pipe-Hv Joint.

In carrying out my invention in its preferred and simplest form, in which the body, cable or column is formed of separate wires or strands twisted together, the individual strands of weldable metal maybe produced in any convenient manner, such, for instance, as commonly employed in making wire, lead pipe, or the like, and then the desired plurality of strands 1 are placed in a bunch lengthwise of each other, and slightly twisted to form a cable or bundle 2, as shown in its simplest form in Fig. l. Still better results are obtained by making each strand l of a plurality of smaller wires or filaments 3, each strand being loosely twisted,'as distinguished from tightly twisted, and then the strands thus built up are loosely twisted into spiral form, as dshown in Fig. 2, where the cable consists of yfive such strands. By a loose twist, I mean that the strands or wires, although twisted together, are separable or still free to untwist, and they remain as individual wires', not welded together, until nally tamped into a joint, by which operation they then become welded together.

In Fig. 3 I have shown the cable as composed of a central fibrous core 4, about which a plurality of layers of wire-like strands 1 are loosely twisted, and in Fig. 4 I have shown said 'fibrous core as surrounded by live strands, each made of individual loosely twisted wires or threads 3, the same. as in Fig. 2. The advantage, of using a central core of fibrous material is that it reduces the amount of lead or alloy required for a givenv joint, and hence materially lessens the cost. The twist or spiral arrangement of all the wires and strands is in the same direction, so as to permit the loosening up at any time of the component parts simply by untwistlng the cable 2.

In Fig. 5 I have presented the two ends 5, 6 of pipes which are to be joined together. Accordingly, I first wind in at the bottom ofthe joint one, or perhaps two, layers of cable, as indicated at 7, composed entirely of lead, and then preferably an intermediateseries 8 of cable containing the central fibrous filler, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and at the outside a few turns 9 of cable composed entirely of lead, as shown in either Figs. 1 and 2. Having filled the joint cavity in this Way, I ram or Weld the successive layers or turns of cable all tightly together, the result being that the joint is solidly and tightly closed. As lead always comes next tolead, and as all the strands are already laid straight along each other, by which I mean that they are nested in direct contact with each other, and parallel vto each other throughout the entire joint-cavity, the result is that the pounding or ramming of the packing necessarily makes an absolutely tight joint, welding the contiguous strands into a homogeneous body. In using the liber filler form of invention, the end of the cable is untwisted for a short distance, and the core or filler is cut off back of the end so as to insure alike throughout the entire cable and a Welded and tight joint at the end, and make it impossible for any moisture to creep back through the fibrous filler, and to hermetically seal the fiber sothat it cannot deteriorate and thereby render the joint defective. Also'a further advantage of having the individual wires of each strand and also the separate strands of the cable, all twisted loosely in the same direction, is that thereby all movement, whether for tightening or for loosening the cable, tends to affect the relative positions of the wires all revents the unintentional formation of kinks or gaps and openings in the cable, especially when tamping it into the joint.

Various expedients -have been proposed for making a pipe-joint cold, and some of these employ leador equivalent alloy, one of vthese being disclosed in the patent of Bhne, No.l 787,074, which shows what is sometimescalled lead wool the leadbeing spun into filaments and interlaced 4or mixedl into a tangled mass, in. appearance like the curled hair used by upholsterers, but such an article above set forth in connection with my invention, as it cannot be untangled or loosened when once pressed together, tends quickly to reduced to cable form, whereas my inven- :is incapable of the uses and advantages f oxidize and lose its e cienc and cannot be j tion provides the lead or cold-moldable metal in a considerable body or mass, which reduces toa minimum .the danger of oxidation and yet, because of the-uneven peripheral gripping surface, consisting ofalternate protuberances andv depressions, provides therequisite capacity for interlocking and nesting together -of successive layers of the material as they are wound into the joint, so that each protuberance can find its substantially complemental cavity to nest in and to hold it against slipping or sliding when the tamping pressure 1s applied, and,

furthermore, in its most complete and preferred embodiment, my invention provides not only individual strands laid parallel against each other, but a twisted loose bundle which may readily be untwisted for further loosening the strands or for lapping or interlocking the opposite ends, or to permit the cutting back of the fibrous filler as explained, and the packing is readily and conveniently manufactured, handled, packed,

`and manipulated.

, Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. The herein described article of manufacture, comprising a relatively slender body of indeterminate length composed of cold- Weldable joint-metal, said body having a peripheral surface in the form of a plurality of protuberant portions maintained in even, predetermined, uniform shape and relation to each other, with intervening groove-like spaces for facilitating the interlocking and nesting together of a plurality of layers of said article when being calked and welded together cold in superimposed position in a pipe-joint.

2. The herein described article of manufacture, comprising a relatively slender body of indeterminate length composed of coldweldable joint -vmetal, said body having a peripheral surface in the form of a plurality of parallel spiral protuberant portions. with intervening parallel spiralv groove-like spaces for facilitating the interlocking and nesting together of a plurality of layers of said article when being calked and welded together cold in superimposed position in a packing for pipe joints, consisting of a plurality of individual strands of weldable joint-metal capable of being welded together cold loosely, assembled in cable form.

4.' As an article of manufacture, a metallic packing for pipe oints, consisting of a plurality of individual strands of cold-weldable joint-1netal loosely twisted into cable form, each strand being itself composed of a plurality of individual Wires laid and maintained parallel by a loose twist.

5. As an article of manufacture, a metallic packing for pipe joints, consisting of a plurality of individual strands of cold-weldable I joint-metal loosely twisted into cable form,

each strand being itself composed of a plurality of individual Wires laid and maintained parallel by a loose twist in the same direction as the twist of the cable.

6. As an article of manufacture, a metallic packing for pipe joints, consisting of a plurality of normally independent, separate individual strands of weldable jointmetal capable of being welded solidly together cold loosely twisted into cable form about a central fibrous liller.

7 As an article of manufacture, a metallic packing for pipe joints. consisting of a plurality of individual strands of cold-weldable joint-metal loosely twisted into cable form about a central fibrous filler, each strand being itself composed of a plurality of individual wires hold parallel by being loosely twisted together.

I n testimony whereof, I have signed my naine to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

OLIVER D. HOGUE.

fitnesses Gino. H. MAXWELL, EDWARD MAXWELL. 

